Deep Space Nine 5.21, 5.22, 5.23
I think it’s interesting to put both Worf and Jadzia onto a Klingon Bird of Prey in “Soldiers of the Empire”. There are so many different dynamics going on here. Everyone involved is an outsider in some way and that’s fascinating. Worf is a Starfleet officer and he’s pretty well known for being repeatedly shunned by Gowron. But he’s also famous for being tough and stern and he will kick your ass. Jadzia is an alien but she’s the Par’Mach’kai of the first officer. She herself has had many dealings with Klingons both as Jadzia Dax and as Curzon Dax and understands the mood of the crew both as an outside observer and as someone who pays attention to the Klingon mindset. Martok is a famous general but he’s also brand new. He’s been a POW for so long, and his changeling replacement was so publicly discovered, that he’s very much starting over. He doesn’t know who to trust besides Worf but he also takes his crew for granted. And then there’s the crew itself. The Rotarran is not a ship filled with honor. They have been repeatedly defeated by the Jem’Hadar and their morale is low. They are just going through the motions. And then, to make things even worse, they get saddled with a washed up old man as a captain, a human-raised, human-trained hardass prude as a first office, and a frickin’ Trill science officer. Lame. So it was great to watch how each of the three react to the crew. It was so smart of Jadzia to bring the blood wine. That made an instantaneous difference. And she was the only one truly interacting with them. Worf and Martok spent all of their time analyzing the situation but not actually doing anything about it. Yet in the end Martok was right and all they needed was one victory. Of course Worf had to let himself get beat up by Martok to get there. But then he gets to join House of Martok! Yay!
“Children of Time” is a really neat way to revisit the Odo/Kira romance now that it’s seemingly finished. And on top of that, it’s a fun debate on the ethics of changing the timeline. 'Only when I am angry.''> First of all, I really love Jimmy Buffet Odo. He’s such a great creation. He’s a blissed out expatriate. I really love that he seems to at peace with his existence, but that he’s the one that prevents the crew from restarting the temporal loop. Plus it’s very interesting for this alternate future Odo to be the one that tells Nerys how her Odo feels about her. I got a glimpse of jealousy from her when he had that romance a few episodes back; now they’re on more even footing.
The rest of the crew’s descendants are pretty amazing, too. I really like the guilt that Yedrin Dax projects through all his interactions, even before we find out that he’s been faking the readings to convince them they can have it both ways. And I love schoolteacher Quark! My favorite, of course, is “The Klingons are coming!” It’s so cool that Worf’s this total rock star. He started his own culture! That’s amazing! Especially at the end when he gets the Klingons to help with the planting because Time is their enemy. The family stuff is the most moving to me now that I have kids of my own. The struggles that Sisko and O’Brien go through to accept that they have to leave their present-day behind in order to be ancestors of these people is poignant. I do wonder about the messages they sent through. Did they intercept them when they didn’t actually go back in time? If not they’d sure have some ‘splain’ to do!
“Blaze of Glory” is one Maquis episode too many for me. I did not need to see Eddington again and didn’t feel like there was any reason to wrap up his story. 'Probably a little of both.''> I have never bought Eddington’s line about how Sisko was the one that made it personal. It’s has always seemed to me the exact opposite was the case. Eddington’s the one that came up with the stupid Les Misérables comparisons. Eddington’s the one that constantly went on about Sisko specifically. Eddington’s focused on Benjamin Sisko and Benjamin Sisko only. The Emissary has other things on his mind. And then there aren’t even any missiles, just Michael’s wife and some invading Jem’Hadar? Dumb.
I did think the B plot with Nog and Martok was cute. It was a fun little struggle for respect that I think it relevant for any species in any era, real or fictional.
“Children of Time” is a really neat way to revisit the Odo/Kira romance now that it’s seemingly finished. And on top of that, it’s a fun debate on the ethics of changing the timeline. 'Only when I am angry.''> First of all, I really love Jimmy Buffet Odo. He’s such a great creation. He’s a blissed out expatriate. I really love that he seems to at peace with his existence, but that he’s the one that prevents the crew from restarting the temporal loop. Plus it’s very interesting for this alternate future Odo to be the one that tells Nerys how her Odo feels about her. I got a glimpse of jealousy from her when he had that romance a few episodes back; now they’re on more even footing.
The rest of the crew’s descendants are pretty amazing, too. I really like the guilt that Yedrin Dax projects through all his interactions, even before we find out that he’s been faking the readings to convince them they can have it both ways. And I love schoolteacher Quark! My favorite, of course, is “The Klingons are coming!” It’s so cool that Worf’s this total rock star. He started his own culture! That’s amazing! Especially at the end when he gets the Klingons to help with the planting because Time is their enemy. The family stuff is the most moving to me now that I have kids of my own. The struggles that Sisko and O’Brien go through to accept that they have to leave their present-day behind in order to be ancestors of these people is poignant. I do wonder about the messages they sent through. Did they intercept them when they didn’t actually go back in time? If not they’d sure have some ‘splain’ to do!
“Blaze of Glory” is one Maquis episode too many for me. I did not need to see Eddington again and didn’t feel like there was any reason to wrap up his story. 'Probably a little of both.''> I have never bought Eddington’s line about how Sisko was the one that made it personal. It’s has always seemed to me the exact opposite was the case. Eddington’s the one that came up with the stupid Les Misérables comparisons. Eddington’s the one that constantly went on about Sisko specifically. Eddington’s focused on Benjamin Sisko and Benjamin Sisko only. The Emissary has other things on his mind. And then there aren’t even any missiles, just Michael’s wife and some invading Jem’Hadar? Dumb.
I did think the B plot with Nog and Martok was cute. It was a fun little struggle for respect that I think it relevant for any species in any era, real or fictional.